No knowledge of reshuffle: Executive Yuan

Executive Yuan Spokesman Su Jun-pin (蘇俊賓) said yesterday that the Cabinet was not aware of ny reshuffle after a newspaper report said the president was in favor of a small-scale reshuffle.

A report in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) said Ou Chin-der (歐晉德), the executive director of Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp (THSRC), and Minister Without Portfolio Tsai Hsun-hsiung (蔡勳雄) were possible candidates to replace Hsueh Hsiang-chuan (薛香川), secretary-general of the Executive Yuan.

Jennifer Wang (王如玄), the chairwoman of the Council of Labor Affairs, and Mainland Affairs Council Chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) were also to be replaced, it said.

Asked about the report, Su declined to comment, except to say: “The Executive Yuan is not aware of any plans for change.”

Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄) also refused to comment when approached during an inspection trip to a traffic control center.

Ou dismissed the report that said he would replace Hsueh as a “rumor” and said the most important thing for him was to focus on his job at THSRC, as the high-speed railway is vital to Taiwan.

“It is purely speculation,” Ou said. “I thank people for their love and support, but I just want to do my job well at this stage of my life.”

THSRC spokesperson Ted Chia (賈先德) also denied that Ou would be leaving the company.

“I believe he [Ou] made it very clear before that there are many things that you can do for your country. The high-speed rail is a very important national infrastructure. At present he has no plans to work anywhere else,” Chia said.

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chiu Yi (邱毅) called on the government to replace Wang, saying that she “was not an expert at resolving unemployment.”